I’m still shocked by the inequality brands spend on dusty, dated marketing tactics like TV advertising as opposed to focusing (contextually-relevant) ads on places people actually spend time.
Looking at the above, digital already won. Everything else is in massive decline (hint: mobile and “online” are the same thing).
And all that time left on TV? For ads, it’s already irrelevant. Even those hanger-ons who (still) do watch TV — they do so while also using other devices.
When do you think any remaining viewers are engaged in multi-device usage? During commercials.
Further, not only do none of my peers (~ages 25-30, living in a city) even watch broadcast or cable TV, if they even own a TV at all, (see the data yourself, the decline is very real) even mass audiences ignore your brand messages because they now stream shows or purchase content à la carte, sans commercial.
TV commercials on TV are over. You have to be deluding yourself to think otherwise. The truth is the only reason they exist anymore are previous generation marketers ignoring shifts in consumer preference are the ones still making big budget decisions (they think: I still do things the same way, everyone else must!). They’re doing their shareholders a disservice and the new guard will help make the quickening shift to digital even faster.
The good news for ads? On the web, advertising is content (and content is advertising) and the brands who are creative win. We now even share awesome ads.
Ads aren’t dying. But they’re changing, fast. TV is, in my opinion now the single worst place for them. If I were a CMO, TV would get a total of zero dollars. TV is not social. You did not ask to see a TV ad. You had no choice to potentially see a different ad as you do online. No options to skip the ad if you didn’t like it. You can’t remarket. It’s an awful experience that was optimized for a limited-media options world, so it is no wonder in a world of infinite choice consumers have moved on.
If you still don’t realize why (most) mass media such as newspaper and TV have failed and technology companies have supplanted them the answer is simple: tech companies focus on the user. Personalization, customization and tailored experiences based on data are the new ways to run a business. Mass media still focuses on the masses. These approaches are already done as can be witnessed by the disruption of entire industries. They’re 100% broken.
Again, any remaining businesses with dinosaur management are dragging their feet. But once a new breed of CMO comes into power we will see ad dollars really start to shift (they’re already moving fast, they should be faster) and fuel poured on the fire of digital media. And I for one will not miss the old, user-hostile model of being held hostage and force-fed ads.